Epilogue
Frankie
“I can’t believe it’s done,” I muttered, staring at our finished house as the sun set, making the windows glow. “I can’t believe it’s finally done.”
“You’ve been here every day,” Gray reminded me, wrapping his arm around my belly.
“I know, but I didn’t expect it to actually happen. The vendor said he’d sent the hardware for the cabinets, but Terry couldn’t find it all week. I was ready to move in without it.”
“I think it’s a little late to move in tonight,” Gray said, kissing the side of my neck. “But if you want, I can pull the mattress in from the camper, and we can camp out on the floor.”
“I want,” I replied instantly, spinning in his arms. “I really want.”
“All right. Why don’t you go drool over the inside some more while I go get it?”
“Don’t you want to drool with me?” I asked, giving a little shimmy.
Gray grinned. “Baby, I’ve seen every inch of that house ten times, and I’ve been over the plans at least fifty. I don’t care if you painted the entire place puke green, if you’re there, I’m set.”
“You’re such a sap,” I teased, hopping away as he tried to swat at my ass.
I spun on my heel and skipped to the wrap-around porch, letting my hand trail up the railing as I moved up the stairs. Every detail of our house had been planned exactly how we wanted it, and even though Gray acted like he didn’t care what it looked like, he’d been right there next to me as we’d gone over the plans with Terry, one of the foremen I worked with.
Tommy mainly flipped houses but when I’d mentioned that Gray and I were looking to build, he’d immediately insisted that his company built it. All of his guys were capable of overseeing an entire build, they just rarely had the opportunity to do it.
They’d also realized pretty quickly that I was a lot more of a pain in the ass as an owner than I’d ever been as a coworker.
I let myself in the front door and inhaled the new house scent. To the left was my office. To the right was a large living room with built-in shelves and cabinets around the fireplace. Straight ahead were the stairs and the short hallway to the kitchen and dining room. When we’d started the design process, there were three things that I’d wanted, no matter what—a fireplace, a large area where we could put a big dining room table, and a sun porch. Gray’s only insistence had been that our bedroom faced east so that we could see the sunrise and the view of the valley from our bed.
I wandered through the kitchen, letting my hands drift over the counters before I let myself out onto the sun porch. Terry had looked at me like I was crazy when I’d told him I wanted it, but his guys had done an excellent job. I couldn’t wait for summer nights out there, listening to the wind blow through the trees.
“Where are you, baby?” Gray called from the front of the house.
“I’m back here,” I called, turning to face the doorway.
“I got the mattress,” he said, striding toward me, the sun coming through the front windows leaving him backlit. “You want me to bring it upstairs?”
“Would you be willing to sleep down here?” I asked.
“It’s gonna get cold as hell tonight.”
“We have plenty of blankets,” I reminded him.
“Fine with me.” He turned and disappeared again and seconds later he was lugging the mattress through the empty dining room and out onto the porch. As soon as he’d set it down, I dropped and lay on it, staring at the ceiling.
“You good?” he asked, his lips twitching.
“Our house is done,” I sang, moving my arms and legs like I was making a snow angel.
“You know what that means,” he said, kneeling down between my legs.
“No, what does that mean?”
“We’re gonna need to christen every room.”
“I think I could get on board with that.” I reach up to pull the rubber band out of his hair. “Where do you want to start?”
“How about the sun porch?” he asked against my lips.
“I like that idea.”
By the time we were both naked, the sun had drifted completely beneath the tree line, and it was getting pretty cold. The only light we had came from under the kitchen cabinets, and I wrapped my legs around Gray’s ass, trying to conserve a little body heat.
“You re-thinkin’ puttin’ a mattress on the porch?” he asked in amusement as he slid inside me.
We’d eventually given up condoms. It had been more emotional for me than I’d wanted to admit, though Gray had seen right through my bravado.
“No way,” I gasped, arching into him.
“You’re covered in goose bumps,” he murmured, running his lips up my neck.
“Those are from pleasure.”
“You’re so full of shit.” He laughed, his entire body shaking.
“A little more movement here,” I said, jerking my hips. “And I won’t be so cold.”
Gray leaned up on his arms and thrust forward, the force of it scooting my body an inch up the mattress.
“God, you’re gorgeous,” he breathed as I reached for his face. He’d let the beard grow in again, and I loved feeling the hair against my palms and between my thighs.
I smiled and let my eyes fall closed as I rolled my hips up to meet him.
Having sex with Gray never grew old or stale. Sometimes we were so tired we fell right to sleep, sometimes we were tipsy, and things got clumsy, sometimes we were in a rush, and it was over fast, sometimes we took as much time as we could—but it was always good. Every single time.
I was coming down from my orgasm, one of my hands in Gray’s hair and the other pressed against his heart when he called my name.
He leaned down on one elbow and pulled my hand away from his hair.
“Okay?” I asked, still a little breathless.
“We’ve got our house,” he said softly, pulling my hand down between us. “You remember what you said we were gonna do after our house was built?”
My breath caught. “I said we were going to fill it up,” I croaked.
“You still want to do that?” he asked softly.
“Yeah.”
My eyes widened as cool metal slid down my finger.
“Then you should probably have my name first,” he said. For the first time, maybe ever, my man was visibly nervous. “Marry me?”
I felt like my eyes were about to pop out of my head as I looked down at the ring. I could barely see it in the dim light.
“Yes,” I said, looking back up at him. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
Gray let out a little shudder of relief.
“Did you really think there was a possibility I’d say no?” I complained against his mouth.
“Are you gonna kiss me back?”
I made a little scoffing sound in the back of my throat and then leaned into the kiss. It never failed, every time our lips met, there was a little swoosh in my belly. We continued kissing as Gray’s hips began to move again, and I wrapped him up in my arms and legs as he came.
“I love you,” he said as he rolled us onto our sides. “You know that?”
“I love you, too,” I said, my smile lazy. I lifted my hand up, trying to get a better look at the ring he’d slipped on my finger.
Then I scooted to the side a little. Then a little more.
“Go,” Gray ordered with a laugh.
I was on my feet in a second, racing into the dining room so I could flip on the light.
He’d done really, really well. The band was sturdy, and there was a large diamond in the center and more diamonds down the sides getting gradually smaller.
“You like it?” he asked, leaning in the doorway naked.
“I love it.”
“Can I please drag the mattress inside now? I know you want to sleep on the porch, but baby, it’s freezing out here.”
“Actually,” I said, drawing out the word. “Let’s sleep in the camper for one more night.”
Gray just looked at me.
“I can carry the mattress back out,” I assured him.
He laughed as he turned back around. “Like I’d ever let you carry the damn mattress.”
“But I could ,” I reminded him, following him with a shiver.